‘IT’ Broke ‘Deadpool’s Thursday Night Box Office Record

Deadpool might need to watch his back. IT, the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s horror epic, just broke one of the R-rated box office champ’s records — and is primed to break a couple more before the end of the weekend. It’s doubtful that Pennywise will come close to overtaking the Merc With a Mouth’s massive box office haul, but it’s quite a win for the new horror film from Andy Muschietti, which already has a sequel in the works for 2019.

Per The Wrap, IT brought in $13.5 million last night, breaking Deadpool’s record for highest-grossing R-rated Thursday night preview. In addition, the new Stephen King adaptation had the all-time biggest opening for an R-rated horror film released in September; it’s also the widest R-rated release of 2017, screening in about 30 more theaters than Logan. This year’s other big King adaptation, The Dark Tower, earned just $7.7 million on its opening night in August, and has grossed just $48 million in the month since.

IT is projected to earn anywhere between $60 and $70 million over the weekend, and could very well break Hotel Transylvania 2’s all-time September opening record ($48.4 million) by Monday. As The Wrap notes, IT will almost definitely have the biggest opening weekend for any Stephen King adaptation (not surprising, as it might be the best King adaptation ever made). The previous record holder is 1408, which opened with $20.6 million in 1997.

Directed by Andy Muschietti, IT tells the story of a group of misfit kids who band together to confront the evil entity plaguing their small town in Maine. Starring a fantastic ensemble of young actors, including Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard and newcomer / scene-stealer Sophia Lillis, IT is the first part in a two-part story that will continue in 2019. You can catch Chapter One in theaters this weekend (and you most definitely should).